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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Portland: Part Deux

CH and I recently got back from Portland, OR (it was our second trip there in less than a year!), and I'm pretty sure that Portlanders are doing just about everything right. They have good food, delicious coffee, nice weather, beautiful scenery, laid-back attitudes...

I could go on and on.

However, since my love affair with Portland isn't likely to end anytime soon, I suppose the least I can do is try to share it with all of you!

Since CH and I are serious bagel lovers, stopping at Kettleman Bagel Company (twice!) was a no-brainer for us. All of their bagels are vegan, and are boiled/flavored to perfection. Plus, the coolest part is that they even offer Toffutti cream cheese - or hummus - as vegan toppers. CH and I liked their bagels so much that we splurged and bought a baker's dozen to take home with us! We tried the onion, garlic, pumpernickel, "everything," rye, and jalapeno bagels. And guess, what? The traditional onion bagel won hands-down.

As I think I've mentioned before, I'm obsessed with grocery stores, farmers' markets, and the like. Thus, it's probably not surprising that this place turned me into a hyperventilating mess. (CH was quite impressed, too.)

The Mill was packed with all of the great Bob's products that you can find in your local store - multiplied by 100! There were aisles and aisles of grains, dried beans, flours, seeds, gluten-free items, breads, cereals, and more. They even had a restaurant and - my favorite! - a file cabinet full of free recipes for customers to take.

One of the many places that we revisited on our trip was Alameda, a brewery that offers both delicious beer and great vegetarian food. My favorite thing on the menu is the veggie "Harvest Burger," which is made from the left-over grains used during Alameda's beer brewing process. Clearly, it's the most delicious "recycling" scheme going.

Another one of our stops was at Hopworks Urban Brewery, because - honestly - what's a trip to Portland without a few beers? The brewery is fairly new (it was under construction last time we were in town), and it offers a wide variety of drinks and locally-sourced pub grub. Hopworks also claims to be powered by 100% renewable energy, and it brews/serves only organic beers. Very cool.

on tap, an ode to our President: the Obamanable Winter Ale

French fries have been one of my vices since I was a little girl. And although I've all but given the fast-food version of them up, I'm still a sucker for fresh fries, whether they come from my very own oven or the Illinois State Fair.

Thus, imagine my delight when CH and I discovered Potato Champion, which is a late-night food cart stationed in downtown Portland. They offer small- and large-sized french fry cones, as well as french fries topped with (vegan!) poutine (aka: cheese curds and gravy). Potato Champion also stocks a variety of interesting sauces/dips for your fries, such as rosemary truffle ketchup and Dijon mustard.

CH had the vegan poutine (not my cup of tea, but he loved it), and I had a large cone of the regular fries with plain old ketchup. Our verdict: best french fries ever. Seriously.

Next on our list was Kitchen Kaboodle, which is practically an Oregon institution. (It also happens to be one of the places we revisited from our last trip - I just can't resist a good kitchen store!)

Our favorite find during this visit was the "Gurgle Pot," which is a jug that's shaped like a fish and makes an amazing "gurgling" sound when you pour water out of it. Something about the jug was completely mesmerizing, although you probably have to hear it for yourself to understand why. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite brave enough to buy it and risk breaking it on the plane ride home, so it looks like I'll be coveting that fish for awhile...

One of the last places that we visited was St. Cupcake - just one of the many bakeries in Portland that creates vegan desserts.

When CH and I stopped in, the place was completely packed with tons of screaming little kids, there was no seating available, and the cupcake line was practically snaking out the door. Frankly, it didn't look good. Luckily, however, we decided to stay and fight the good fight, and were handsomely rewarded with some very tasty cupcakes. (FYI: The flat-topped vanilla cupcake is the vegan one.)

Not only does this make me want to book a plane ticket right me, but it also makes me want to pack all my bags and move to Portland, like, tomorrow! :) I think it was the "good food, delicious coffee, nice weather, beautiful scenery, laid-back attitudes" description that won me over, before the food even did, of course. I'm a sucker for delish coffee and vegan food.

Thanks for letting us live vicariously through you in your Portland adventure! The flat-topped cupcake is weird and cute and the same time. These perfect bagels sound intriguing as well!

Ok ~ Serously I want to go to Portland now! It sounds like you had an amazing time and you got to see so many cool places. I want the bagels, the veg burger, the fries and look at all that frosting on the vegan cupcake ~ YUM! Thanks for sharing....I might just have to request we drive up that way :D

As an Irish person living in New Zealand the chances of me getting to Portland are slim. However, reading this article has certain added Portland to my "places I want to visit" list! It just sounds wonderful... I'm also thinking that the Portland Tourism Board (if such a thing exists) should pay you some sort of commission for this blog entry :)

What a fun trip! We only live about 3.5 hours from Portland but have only made it over there twice in 5 years just because with the kids, it is a looooong drive and an overnight stay. The Bob's Red Mill tour would be so fun. And those vegan cupcakes look so good!

what a fun post! i LOVE grocery stores and farmer's markets too--everytime my husband and i travel, we always make it a point to visit local spots. i've blogged about nyc's greenmarket, seattle's pike place and the central market in athens, greece. they're my faves :)

and i gotta say, i'm SO JEALOUS you went to the bob's red mill store. i love love love their products.

Great Portland post! I live in Portland, and I actually worked at Kitchen Kaboodle for about three years. It's such a great local store. It was nice to read your praises on the KK. Isn't Bob's the best? It's hard to leave all those bulk aisles behind; it reminds me of how difficult it is to stop picking berries in the summertime...

I have to admit, I love my hometown, Portland, Oregon! I have traveled all over the country and have not found as many food options as there seems to be in Portland. In fact, I feel spoiled and it's hard to travel and not have rice lattes and vegan, sugar-free options!

It looks like you chose some really great places to visit. I LOVE Bob's Red Mill. It's a fascinating place to visit and buy gigantic-sized bags of grains.

Probably my most favorite aspect of P-town is all of the surrounding beauty-lakes, rivers, mountains, ocean beaches, gorge, waterfalls, etc. There is NEVER a lack of things to do here. Also, FYI, we have an extinct volcano at a city park in city limits-Mt. Tabor!

Did you happen upon VooDoo Doughnuts? Vegan options with crazy toppings and not-so-vegan options like maple bars with bacon. I could go on and on.

my girlfriend stumbled across your blog this week and we were just tickled. we are also in "chicagoland" and have just returned from portland! we were in love with the area (especially after a visit to the organic beer festival last saturday). i enjoyed reading your insights since we didn't spend much time in the SE quadrant. also, extremely jealous of the bob's red mill store. good post :)